I have difficulty sleeping. I have a hard time going to sleep and a hard time staying asleep. I can usually get a total of 5 hours or so during the week. I sleep more on weekends, often taking 3-hour naps in the afternoon/early evening. I tend to sleep better during the day, unless there's too much noise/activity going on. My problem is a hyperactive mind. Most of the time I find I dwell on the not-so-nice events in my life, even when I intentionally try to think about the nice events. I also experience this thing where it's like I have several different thoughts firing off in my brain simultaneously, but they occur too quickly for me to comprehend them.
It's better now than it was before. Probably 15 or 16 years ago I went 50-something hours without sleep (my personal record). Towards the end I was incoherent and hallucinating before my body just shut down. I do not want to repeat that.
I've tried non-medical sleep aids, like chamomile tea w/valerian or warm milk, but they've been hit-or-miss, usually miss. I've also quit caffeine and sugar before, but that didn't work. Even now I've had 2 or 3 Tabs and then gone to sleep, when I've had water before and couldn't sleep. NyQuil works for me, but only the first time I take it. After that it does nothing. [Note: I've only used NyQuil when sick, not as a sleep aid.]
I've thought about trying OTC sleep aids, but I'm just not comfortable with the idea. I don't want to get to the point where I need medication, OTC or prescription, to sleep. I may have to at some point, but I'll likely try to push that off as much as I can.
29 Aug 2009, 6:44 pm
I wish a day is more than 24 hours so that I could still do alot of things 
